Councilor: City must address fire-ravaged neighborhoods (VIDEO)

Leahy concerned about eyesore homes

LOWELL - Afive-alarm fire ripped through several multifamily buildings at the corner of Chestnut and Willow streets in April 2012, displacing nearly 30 people.

More than a year later, two buildings remain standing, but with the charred backsides visible to all in the neighborhood. Siding peeling off one home is easy to spot, debris remains on the ground and a lot behind the homes has a foundation but no structure.

It's a sight that frustrates City Councilor John Leahy.

"People should not have to look at this for a year or two after the fire happened," Leahy said. "These homes are eyesores and look like they could fall down. They should be taken down."

Leahy also said he has seen about a half-dozen other homes hit by fire in his travels in the city, including properties at 886 Central St. and 36 Fort Hill Ave.

He wants the city to adopt a more aggressive approach to addressing fire-damaged properties so they don't drag down city neighborhoods. Leahy said if a home ravaged by fire can't be rehabbed, the city should try to get the property owner to have it taken down within 30 days of the fire.

"Properties hit hard by fires and that just sit there are not good for the spirit of neighborhoods," Leahy said. "The city needs to work with owners and make sure they are taken care of in a more timely manner.

Advertisement

"

The councilor, who is chairman of the council's neighborhoods subcommittee, said the council should consider an ordinance that could give it more teeth to target fire-damaged properties. He also said the city could consider a low-interest loan program to help pay for rehab or demolition costs.

Leahy has filed a motion for tonight's council meeting requesting that the city manager provide a list of firedamaged properties in the city. Once he finds out how many there are, Leahy plans to discuss action steps the city can take to address them.

Fire-damaged homes have long been a hot-button issue, and councilors have previously called for strategies to address them.

Neighbors of some of the fire-damaged homes Leahy mentioned said they would like to see action.

"I'd like to see them come down," said Rafael Canales, who lives at 20 Willow St. "It's awful to have to look at that every day. I want to see some new homes there."

Joe Defreitas, who lives close to the multistory building hit by fire several months ago at the corner of Central and Floyd streets, said he would like to see the property fixed up, and debris such as glass cleared away. He and Canales said they were pleased to hear a councilor was focusing on the issue.

"If someone does not want to rebuild, a home should be taken down as soon as possible," Defreitas said.

It's unclear what the ultimate plans are for the firedamaged homes Leahy mentioned on Chestnut and Central streets, but the owner of 36 Fort Hill Ave. told The Sun she plans to repair the damage from the February fire so the home can be inhabitable again. As for 19-21 Willow St., permits for demolition and new three-family construction were pulled in October 2012, while interior demolition and re-roofing work could take place at 84-86 Chestnut St.

Assistant City Manager Adam Baacke said the city does not have one catch-all approach to homes damaged by fires because each case presents a different set of circumstances.

Options given to the city's building commissioner under the state's building code for fire-damaged homes range from cooperation with the property owner to securing the permits needed to rehab a property to ordering immediate demolition.

The city bases its approach first on an evaluation of whether a property presents an immediate threat to public safety.

If a building is in danger of collapsing or poses some type of immediate safety threat, the building commissioner can order it to be immediately demolished, which is what occurred after fire May 4 on East Merrimack Street.

If there are no immediate safety threats, the city considers several different factors when deciding on the next step. Those include the need to allow insurance companies time to conduct investigations, the consideration that building owners are dealing with the tragic loss of property or life, and the impact on the neighborhoods and surrounding properties.

"Even cases where neighborhood impacts are the primary consideration do not always yield the conclusion that the most aggressive enforcement actions are the most appropriate," Baacke said.

The danger of forcing demolition through court action or City Council action is that a damaged building exchanged for a abandoned vacant lot can take years to be pulled out of the tax-title foreclosure process and back into the hands of a different owner, said Baacke.

Among the current crop of Lowell homes damaged by fire, most have been rehabbed or reconstructed, some have been demolished and some remain under investigation, said Baacke. Some properties are also facing active codeenforcement efforts, he said.
Follow Lyle Moran on Twitter @lylemoran.

Welcome to your discussion forum: Sign in with a Disqus account or your social networking account for your comment to be posted immediately, provided it meets the guidelines. (READ HOW.)
Comments made here are the sole responsibility of the person posting them; these comments do not reflect the opinion of The Sun. So keep it civil.